Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Democratic state legislator from San Francisco, and Governor Arnold Schwazenegger have developed an interesting relationship over the past month. In early October, Ammiano was attending a gala event for the Democratic Party of San Francisco at the Fairmont Hotel. Much to his surprise, in walked the Republican former actor, who took to the podium to say a few words, largely to boos and cat calls. Schwarzenegger told the crowd he was only in the building for an event celebrating the President's Cup, and was invited to stop in by Willie Brown, the Democratic former Mayor of San Francisco and former Speaker of the California Assembly. While at the podium, he quipped that he wouldn't give a Republican speech. "I sleep with a Democrat every night...and I just wanted to tell you all to have a good evening."
Perhaps more incensed than just about anyone else in the room that the Republican took the stage at a Democratic event without being so much as invited (officially speaking, that is) was Ammiano. As Schwarzenegger spoke, the longtime San Francisco Democrat called out, "kiss my gay ass," and "you lie!" He defended his comments against comparisons to South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson's now-famous outburst by pointing out that the San Francisco event was not a legislative session. It was a party, and according to Ammiano, Schwarzenegger was intruding. Ammiano didn't stop there. He took the microphone after Schwarzenegger and announced, "I've slept with a lot of f*cking Democrats." Here's a short clip of the exchange:
But not one to be outdone, Schwarzenegger fired back. The Governor will typically attach a short explanation along with any veto outlining his reasons for not signing a particular piece of legislation. So when he vetoed Tom Ammiano's bill this is the message he sent (emphasis added, of course):
To the Members of the California State Assembly:
I am returning Assembly Bill 1176 without my signature.
For some time now I have lamented the fact that major issues are overlooked while many
unnecessary bills come to me for consideration. Water reform, prison reform, and health
care are major issues my Administration has brought to the table, but the Legislature just
kicks the can down the alley.
Yet another legislative year has come and gone without the major reforms Californians
overwhelmingly deserve. In light of this, and after careful consideration, I believe it is
unnecessary to sign this measure at this time.
Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger
PoliticalWire.com's Taegan Goddard came up with an algorithm for determining the possibility that this might actually be an accident (you can try to run the script yourself by clicking here). The probability that the letters f, u, c, k, y, o, and u would all appear next to one another are just about one-half of one-trillionth of a percent. That's 0.00000000000053937610200661% to be exact.
This appears to be heating up. Stay tuned.
